Congratulations to Jeff Howes from the North Shore Australian Plants Society group who was awarded Life Membership at APS NSW AGM 2024. This summary is based on the nomination from the North Shore Australian Plants Society group, with added detail. APS North Shore are delighted to have Jeff as a continuing member of our group and we very much value his contribution. He is worthy of Life Membership both for his service to North Shore APS, his efforts in constructing and maintaining the APS NSW Plant Profile Project and his ongoing dedication as a Committee member & Excursions coordinator for the North Shore Australian Plants Society Group.
Jeff Howes’ contribution at the local, state and national level to the appreciation and knowledge of Australian native plants has been significant over many years. Jeff’s membership commenced in 1977. For many years Jeff was an active member of NSG, particularly involved with the plant ID segment of meetings, and a regular attendee at meetings and events. In recent years Jeff’s deteriorating hearing has made it difficult to attend and contribute to meetings.
Jeff was Editor of APS NSG’s monthly newsletter, Blandfordia, from February 1997 to December 2000. Being an editor at this time involved much more manual handling than today. In 1997 180 newsletters were distributed, with only 6 sent by email. Newsletters had to be produced, printed, inserted into envelopes and posted. Jeff would have been in full-time paid work while holding this role. Jeff continues to be a prolific contributor to Blandfordia, with excellent images and articles. The current editor (for the past 11 years) can attest that Jeff continues to be a primary contributor, always in a most helpful and willing manner.
Jeff has been an extremely prolific writer of articles and information about specific plants and advice in how to successfully grow native plants. Many articles have appeared in both Native Plants and Australian Plants.
Since 2017 Jeff has worked with the late Warren Sheather, Dan Clarke, Heather Miles and others on the APS NSW Plant Profile Project and there are now >1000 plant profiles on the database. The project’s roots trace back to 2008 when Jeff Howes began crafting articles about Australian native plants for his suburban Sydney block. The database is the most visited site on the website and is reaching people from a local to national level and potentially, to an international level.
Jeff’s garden is an ongoing testament to his skills. In conjunction with several other members’ gardens, it featured in the Australian Open Garden Scheme during the 1990s and continues to be available for APSNSG garden visits. Jeff is willing to try new things and had to do a major redesign a few years ago to accommodate an extension in the property. The new result is equally as spectacular and peaceful as the previous garden.
In earlier days Jeff was a regular volunteer at the APSNSW headquarters when there was a physical APSNSW office.
In 1990 Jeff Howes volunteered to design native plantings at Thornleigh West Public School at the request of the TWPS Parents &Citizen Association. Jeff did the design and another member, Brian Roach, supplied most of the plants. Some of those plants are still present today.
In 2000 Jeff was awarded the APS NSG Melba Dyer Award. This is an annual award to the member making the most valuable contribution to the Group during the year.
Other volunteer roles:
- Long-term volunteer with Hornsby Shire Council propagation team, including giving plant-growing advice at plant giveaway sessions.
- October 2019 to April 2021 with Easy Care Gardening. Jeff willingly shared his expertise and knowledge in this role and on occasions, would provide interested clients and volunteers with native plants from his garden. His expert pruning skills were also greatly appreciated and plants always looked better for his efforts.
- Long term volunteering with Lifeline Books.